First look: Stylish SsangYong shock!

KOREAN brand SsangYong is breaking away from its controversially styled SUV and light truck line-up with its first front-wheel drive and monocoque body vehicle, the appealing C200.

Doing away with the separate body-on-chassis construction used across the existing range, the C200 will also be available with a full-time 4WD system.

Its Toyota RAV4 sizing and compact SUV dimensions also promise competitive fuel economy and low emissions, as SsangYong comes to grips with a world turning away from profligate truck-based vehicles.

To this end, a new 130kW 2.0-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder engine is utilised, most probably mated to a six-speed gearbox, and conforming to EuroV exhaust emissions standards.

Only a single image has been issued, with more information to be revealed by SsangYong Motor CEO and president Hyung-tak Choi at the Paris motor show next month.

Chinese manufacturer Shanghai Automotive Industry Corporation (SAIC) has had a 51 per cent stake in SsangYong since 2004.